NEWS AND VIEWS: Montessori program makes strides in Kyiv (02/11/96)

NEWS AND VIEWS: Montessori program makes strides in Kyiv

PRINCETON, N.J. - In November 1995, a contingent of Ukrainian education administrators, including Boris Zhebrovsky, first deputy chairman of the Main Board for Public Education of Kyiv; Vera Guroynova, superintendent of Darnitsa Public School District, Kyiv; and Tatiana Mikhaltshouk, principal of the Kyiv Montessori School, made a return visit to Princeton Montessori School and the Princeton Center for Teacher Education (PCTE).

This visit is part of an ongoing, collaborative project between PCTE and the Education Board of Kyiv to establish a Ukrainian Montessori teacher training program. Already in operation is the Kyiv Montessori School, a public education laboratory school for children age 3 to 7, that will serve as a model for teachers in training.

Educators from Ukraine first visited the Princeton Center of Education in 1994 to explore and observe Montessori education in the United States. Since then, PCTE staff have trained six Ukrainian early childhood teachers to become certified educational specialists in Montessori education.

In turn, representatives from PCTE have visited Kyiv on several occasions to consult with their educators and to better understand their interests in bringing Montessori education to the Ukrainian educational system.

According to PCTE Director Ginny Cusack, such exchanges are critical to the implementation of a successful Ukrainian Montessori program. "PCTE's role in this joint endeavor is an advisory one," she said. "We share our expertise, experience and knowledge as Montessori educators. In addition, we provide our understanding of Montessori philosophy; the Ukrainians then adapt and modify the philosophy in accordance with their cultural customs. We are focusing our efforts on introducing an authoritative form of education rather than the past Soviet style of authoritarianism."

This collaborative project is funded solely through contributions from concerned citizens in the United States and Ukraine. The Ukrainian-American Montessori Foundation. a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1994 specifically to solicit funds to further this educational endeavor on behalf of the children of Ukraine.

For more information on the Ukrainian-American Montessori Foundation, to make a donation, or to assist with translations, please call PCTE at (609) 924-4594.

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